Potts leads Lebo to win

Published Sep 16, 2013 at 1:59 pm
(Updated Sep 16, 2013 at 1:59 pm)

Kelsey Potts paced the Mt. Lebanon girls’ cross country team to victory in the Spiked Shoe Classic held on the Blue golf course at Penn State University. The Lebo ladies totaled 61 points and outdistanced runner-up State College. The Little Lions finished with a 114 score.

Though leading with 800 meters to go in the race, Potts slipped to second place overall, behind champion Amelia Paladino. The University senior posted a 17:38 time. A sophomore, Potts finished in 17:50.

“Kelsey is still growing,” said Lebo head coach Ron Schreiner. “She has learned so much though about how and when to spend her energy. We are not fully giving her everything but this season, so far, we have started to utilize more speed play activities with her.”

The results have proved remarkable for Potts as well as her teammates. Potts won the Red, White and Blue Classic and the Lebo ladies are 2-0 in big invitational meets this year.

“As a freshman I was patient with Kelsey and did not incorporate change pace training or surging techniques into her practice sessions but now our seniors are able to push her more in practice.”

Jillian Hunsberger and Audrey Gordon have given Potts as well as the Lebo Ladies a big boost. The seniors finished fourth and seventh overall respectively at the meet. Hunsberger posted an 18:16 time while Gordon finished in 19:07.

Sophomore Claire Dougherty finished in 20 flat and senior Callie Gunzenhauser followed one second later. In addition to those 23rd and 25th places, Sadie Saxton followed in 27th position overall with a 20:06 time and Julia Staltari followed in 20:43.

Potts and the Lebo ladies take their show on the road again this weekend when they compete in the Foundation Meet on the Hershey Parkview course, which is the site of the PIAA championships. Also competing in the Invitational are last year’s top state finishers, Unionville and Pennsbury.

“We had a great meet and it was so much fun to run on the beautiful course on the Penn State campus but we are really excited about this run this weekend,” Schreiner said. “We’ll get to see how we stack up against the top teams.

“We think we belong on the same course with them. After this weekend, we’ll know how good we are.”